The Food Network has a new batch of contestants for season eight of Spring Baking Championship. Of those competitors is pastry chef and Houstonian Diego Chiarello.

Chiarello grew up in the city Sciacca in Sicily with four older brothers who are also pastry chefs.  He moved to New York in 2012 in hopes of making a name for himself in the States.

Although he is native to Italy, Chiarello calls Houston his hometown now as the owner of La Sicilia Italian Bakery & Café.

He is now competing against 12 other bakers for a grand prize of $25,000. Each episode airs on Food Network on Mondays at 7 p.m. CT, or can be streamed using Discovery+.

The other bakers are Alexis Wells, Jaleesa Mason, Tom Smallwood, Romuald Guiot, Yohan Lee, Dennis Van, Justin Ross, Jennifer Woo, Kim Wood, Annabelle Asher and Carolyn Portuondo.

Chiarello states in his Instagram bio that his mission is to “BAKE people happy each and every day.”

 It wasn’t until after he had worked with famous restaurants and private clubs that he decided to open up his own restaurant.

Now with La Sicilia being his main focus he puts his heart into the business as a pastry chef. He specializes in pastries and custom cakes.

Tune in to the Food Network on Mondays to see what this chef, along with the other bakers, are capable of.

Sources:

https://www.click2houston.com/houston-life/2022/03/21/this-local-pastry-chef-is-representing-houston-on-spring-baking-championship/

https://www.lasiciliausa.com/?fbclid=IwAR1a_LtdXVwSPQtRUJV43EysZWBNaV67glrJDB8JEC4wHxNveeHVp8c5Oh0